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Justice Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2012 Introduction Print EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM General The Justice Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2012 will amend the Accident Compensation Act 1985, the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995, the Supreme Court Act 1986, the County Court Act 1958 and the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003. The Bill improves the court and judicial system by amending the above Acts to reduce the time required by the County Court to finalise serious injury applications, to remove certain reporting requirements for the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal, to clarify the rule making power of the Supreme Court in relation to judicial registrars, to recognise the office of Chief Magistrate for pension purposes and to extend the time to undertake a review of counter terrorism legislation. PART 1--PRELIMINARY Clause 1 sets out the purposes of the Bill. Clause 2 provides that the Bill, with the exception of Part 2, will commence on the day after it receives Royal Assent. Part 2 comes into operation on 1 January 2013. PART 2--AMENDMENTS TO THE ACCIDENT COMPENSATION ACT 1985 Clause 3 repeals section 134AE of the Accident Compensation Act 1985. This amendment removes the requirement for judges of the County Court to give detailed, extensive and complete reasons in deciding an application for leave to proceed with a common law claim for damages for a serious injury. 571321 1 BILL LA INTRODUCTION 9/10/2012
Clause 4 inserts new Division 14 into Part IX of the Accident Compensation Act 1985. The new Division contains section 390 which is a transitional provision for the repeal of section 134AE of the Accident Compensation Act 1985. Section 390 provides that-- where an application for leave to bring proceedings under section 134AB(16)(b) had been made and heard, but a decision had not been made on the application before 1 January 2013, the Court must continue to give reasons as if section 134AE had not been repealed; the repeal of section 134AE takes effect in deciding other applications for leave to bring proceedings made under section 134AB(16)(b) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985 which were commenced before 1 January 2013. PART 3--AMENDMENTS TO THE JUDICIAL REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL ACT 1995 Clause 5 amends section 13(1) of the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal Act 1995 to allow the Judicial Remuneration Tribunal to report to the Attorney-General on recommendations in relation to adjustments to judicial conditions of service as it considers appropriate. Previously, section 13(1) required the Tribunal to report to the Attorney-General at least every two years. PART 4--AMENDMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT ACT 1986 Clause 6 substitutes new paragraphs (a) and (b) in section 17AA of the Supreme Court Act 1986. The new paragraphs clarify that court rules may be made empowering a Judge or an Associate Judge to refer a matter to a judicial registrar for hearing and determination provided that the Supreme Court has made rules providing for the delegation of such matters to judicial registrars. It also clarifies the rule-making power in relation to the court rules specifying matters or classes of matter which it is appropriate for a judicial registrar to hear and determine. 2
Clause 7 substitutes new paragraphs (de) and (dea) of section 25(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1986 to clarify that the Supreme Court has the power to make rules concerning the classes of matters which may be heard or concerning matters which may be determined by a judicial registrar, or referred to a judicial registrar for hearing and determination. PART 5--AMENDMENT TO THE COUNTY COURT ACT 1958 Clause 8 inserts new paragraph (aba) into section 14(5) of the County Court Act 1958. The new paragraph provides that where a County Court judge held the office of Chief Magistrate immediately prior to appointment as a judge, service in the office of Chief Magistrate counts as service in the office of judge for the purpose of calculating the judge's pension entitlements. PART 6--AMENDMENT TO THE TERRORISM (COMMUNITY PROTECTION) ACT 2003 Clause 9 amends section 38(1) of the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003 to extend the time to undertake a review of that Act to 31 December 2013 to facilitate full and proper consideration of a review of counter-terrorism legislation being undertaken by the Council of Australian Governments. PART 7--REPEAL OF AMENDING ACT Clause 10 provides for the automatic repeal of this Bill on 1 January 2014. The repeal of the Bill does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by this Bill. (See section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984). 3